Petersburg School Board approves changing the names of 3 schools names after Confederates

On Wednesday night, the Petersburg school board voted to rename three of their elementary schools that are named after Confederate leaders. Officials will be changing the names of A.P. Hill, J.E.B. Stuart, and Robert E. Lee elementary schools on July 1st.

A.P. Hill will now be named Cool Spring. Robert E. Lee will now be named Lakemont. J.E.B. Stuart will now be named Pleasants Lane.

In recent months, this didn’t appear to have a chance of happening because officials stated that it was going to cost $18,000 to change the names of the schools. But a Henrico woman recently donated $20,000 to change the names, clearing the way for the name change.

Central Virginia is littered with schools that are named after confederate leaders. I wouldn’t expect this debate to end anytime soon.

Here are some comments from the public hearing on the issue courtesy of Idea stations

We are America united as one, and we cannot honor people who tried to disrupt, destroy and downgrade America…

Changing the names of the schools won’t change the history of what happened. But it will let us move forward and let us know that the chains are not still on us and that we really are – and we truly are – free people…

Now – I don’t know these Generals personally, but I believe that at the time they were patriotically defending Virginia – see Virginia was almost like its own country…

Wouldn’t it be great to have successful accredited schools even though they’re named after Confederate people. What better way to slap them in the face?

Steven Pierce: I call it a healthy discussion…

Steven Pierce is Vice Chair of Petersburg’s school board.

Pierce: These are the kinds of discussions that you prefer. These are the kinds of discussions where the community at large has a right to come out, share the facts so that they can give you their opinions.